Playing Hero
by ScribeOfRhapsody
Summary: Josh suppressed a cackle at the irony of the situation. Here he was, the original villain of this story, and now he was the one with the girl on one side and a machete on the other, leading their small group of battered survivors to safety. This was supposed to be Mike's thing, wasn't it?
1. Role Reversal

" _ **People don't always get what they deserve in this world.**_ **" – Lemony Snicket.**

… **BUT JOSH DARN WELL WILL IN MY FIC.**

 **Now, repeat after me: Vegan Psycho. _Vegan Psycho._ Come on, guys, help me get this ship name started! They don't have a good one yet.  
**

* * *

"You're dead! _You're dead!_ " Josh's voice cracked – half because of the sob that had been building pressure at the base of his throat and half because his vocal cords were failing him after so much screaming. With each breath came a wheezing rattle in his chest – a husky, invisible force that kept expanding, making him choke over the words he just needed to _screamscreamscream_.

Why? Why could they not just go way? Why couldn't they leave him alone? Why couldn't they see _it wasn't his fault?_

 _But it_ is _your fault, Joshua. You didn't help them._

"No. No, no, no, no." He shook his head, wishing dearly that he could dislodge the image of his sisters' walking corpses from his mind.

 _You didn't save us._

He couldn't even tell the voices apart anymore. Or the faces. They were blurring too much. But not because they were leaving – oh, no. They were still as present as ever, just obscured by the tears warping his sight.

Pain flared across his right cheekbone, the sting amplified by the wound that was already there – courtesy of Mike.

"Josh!"

Wait… Mike? The pain was receding, the voices and his visions seemingly forced back by the impact. No more corpses. No bloody pigs. Just… black and tan with a splash of red on the tan and two spots of brown and purple and some green below that, and then there was some bright light–

 _Oh._ Josh blinked several times as the colors sorted themselves into the proper order. "M…Mike?"

Two solid, real hands gripped his shoulders, steadying him and grounding him to reality as he swayed slightly on his feet. "Josh! Hey man…" Mike squinted as he studied Josh's face.

Josh's cheek was throbbing from the double assault on it, and he brought his arms up in defense, in case Mike decided to try for a third. "Don't h-hit me, p-please."

Mike stepped back, showing his palms upright. "You were deep in it, man. Full mental jacket."

It was then that Josh really placed what those blobs of red and purple had been: Mike's face. Or, more specifically, his black eye and split lip. He hadn't had those before, had he? Back at the shed? Had Josh just not noticed? No, no, he would have noticed that.

"We didn't think we'd get you back."

 _Sam? Sammy, Sammy, Samantha?_ His gaze flickered over to the light in the corner of his eye. It was so bright, but when he squinted, he was able to make out Sam's kind, green eyes beneath the headband-flashlight thing she was wearing. He knew those eyes well. He'd seen them so many times, over the last year in particular.

His stomach lurched as the dark smears of blood on her face and neck mocked him.

 _Your fault, your fault._

No. No, Sammy wasn't supposed to get hurt. No one was supposed to get hurt, but especially not her. She hadn't even been involved in the prank. She'd been there for him this whole year, helping when even _Chris_ couldn't.

 _Is that how you repay a friend's kindness?_

Shut up!

"Josh…" Sam's voice drew him from his thoughts like it had so many times in the past. "Hannah was down here for… weeks… a month?"

What? How could Sam know that? A _month?_ His baby sister had been stuck in this horrible place for a _month?_ And why had Sam mentioned only Hannah? What about Beth?

"She dug Beth up."

Hannah did what? Why would she do that? How was Beth buried in the first place? Hannah? But why would she dig her up? How did Sam know any of this?

Mike was saying something. Josh should probably have been listening.

"Okay…" Sam replied to whatever Mike had said. "Josh, do you have the key for the cable car?"

Ah, okay. They were leaving. Good. _Good, good, good._ Josh nodded a few times, fishing through one of the pockets on his 'Psycho Outfit' overalls. "Uh… Y-yeah…" His fingers fumbled with the cold metal before grasping it. "Here."

"Oh, good…" Sam accepted the key with a sigh of relief.

Josh swallowed thickly as he spotted the gashes and fresh streaks of crimson all over her hand. She pulled back, not seeming to notice. She turned away from him to walk a few steps away. "See that over there?" She pointed to the one other light source other than her headband-flashlight thing. "That means there's a direct way out. C'mon."

Josh forced his feet to move so he could trail after his two friends. Friends. _Were_ they still friends?

A scoff escaped Mike's mouth as they stopped under the moonlight that was pouring down the circular shaft to the surface. "There's no way Josh is gonna make it up there."

Josh was pretty sure Mike wasn't exactly up for a straight climb like that either – Sam was the rock climber, not him – but he still had a point.

"Okay." Sam looked around the base of the shaft. "If you help me up I can go back to tell the others we're okay."

"Yeah…" Mike agreed. "Yeah, good."

"You bring Josh back the way we came and we'll all meet at the lodge."

 _But shouldn't we stick together?_ Josh's mind questioned, but he could make the words leave his mouth. That was rule one to surviving any horror movie – don't split up. Why were they splitting up?

"Be careful." Mike squatted down, cupping his hands for Sam to use as a stepping point.

"You too." Sam put he hands on his shoulders to get her balance before he hosted her upwards.

Sam caught onto the ledge above them, swinging her leg up like climbing a vertical mineshaft was one of her daily activities.

 _No. Sammy. Come back._

Never split up the group.

Don't stand near widows.

Never, _ever_ send someone off alone.

But Sammy was the Final Girl, right? She'd be okay.

 _This isn't a movie, you idiot! Sam doesn't have Final Girl armor!_

Mike had said something. And he'd missed it again. Oops. He had to start paying more attention.

Mike apparently hadn't noticed, because he was already walking away and clicking on a flashlight. Josh gave Sam one last glance and then followed. She'd be okay. She wasn't the one going through the abandoned, unstable mine, after all. They were in more danger than she was.

Josh trudged after Mike, keeping his gaze on the ground to avoid tripping on something. The air was unnervingly still around them. Still and quiet.

The right side of his face gave a twinge. Ow. He could tell the skin there was swollen and hot without even touching it. "You didn't… You didn't have to hit me so much, man." Couldn't he at least have hit the other side instead of the same place twice?

Mike stopped, slowly moving the flashlight's beam around the tunnel in front of them. "Ah, yeah… I'm sorry about before, man. I thought you killed Jess… I was wrong."

 _I was wrong._ Those were not words he had ever expected to hear from the mouth of Michael Munroe. Neither did he expect him to sound so… subdued. Mike was sassy and jovial. Mr. Pretty-Boy-Class-President. But not anymore. Not with the dirt and blood and bruises covering his body. Not as he pushed back mourning for a girl he clearly cared more about than he had realized.

Josh had assumed that Jess and Mike's relationship was a fling. He was pretty sure _Jess and Mike_ thought their relationship was a fling. But that wasn't what Josh was seeing now. Not with how Mike had been acting since he'd gotten back from the cabin. Hell, Mike had gone from typical Popular-Pretty-Boy to Battle-Ready-Apocalypse-Survivor in just a few hours.

" _I showed you parts of yourself that you were too afraid to visit!"_

Josh had been aiming that statement more at Chris and the games he'd put him through, but whatever Mike had been through, it clearly applied to him now.

Fear had made him braver – brave enough to plunge headfirst into an abandoned mine without even blinking. Fear had made him resourceful – resourceful enough to somehow get his hands a jacket, a flashlight, and a _machete_. Not to mention that gun he'd hit him with earlier.

But what had fear done to Josh? Nothing good. It had just been fuel for his hallucinations to feed off.

Mike was moving again. Josh forced one foot in front of the other so he could keep following.

"Hey, Josh?"

"Hm?"

"Do me a favor: if you hear anything down here, don't move."

Josh _wished_ he didn't have any idea what that was about. "Was it real?" A bit vague, but he couldn't think clearly enough to form a more specific question, so he hoped Mike would get his meaning. Josh may have been hallucinating, but he sure as hell hadn't spaced out and _walked_ down here. He'd been _dragged_. By what, he had no idea, but it had happened.

Mike's shoulders tensed visibly. "Yeah… yeah, man. Those bastards are real, all right."

They passed through a rotting doorway and into another room of the cave.

The smell filled Josh's nostrils first, and he gagged before he even realized what it was from. "No… No!" Bile rose in his throat as he saw the pair of legs hanging from the ceiling ahead of them.

"Just… don't look up, man. Just keep your eyes down," Mike said thickly, doing exactly that himself as he walked under the body, his lips setting into a line so tight they paled.

Josh locked his eyes onto a dirt splotch on the back of Mike's jacket and took a few rattling breaths. _One step… Two steps… Three steps…_

He just needed to focus on walking, and they'd be out of here soon enough…

He only took his gaze from the splotch when Mike stopped again and dropped to one knee to lower himself into… a lake.

They were going through _a lake?_ In this weather? With those… _things_ out there? Had Mike ever paid attention to _any_ of the movies their group had watched?

Mike dropped into the water, a faint shiver rippling across his shoulders as he held his arms up to keep them dry.

Only way out. Right. Josh would just… keep following, then.

He quickly copied Mike's actions, biting his teeth together to stop them from chattering as he sank into the frigid water. His heart thudded wildly just above the water level, and he moved timidly forward. Gotta keep moving…

He was just beginning to lose all feeling in his feet when Mike staggered, looking down at the water. He must have tripped over something–

The water exploded in front of Mike, showering them both as a tall, spindly _monster_ burst from the depths of the murky lake with an ear-splitting shriek.

Josh froze, not because of Mike's advice before, but because he was raking his eyes over the monster… over the ripples around them… over Mike… trying to figure out if the thing was _real._

The thing shot out its ugly, lanky arm, grabbing Mike around the throat and hoisting him into the air as it shrieked into his face. A strangled yell escaped Mike as he clawed at the hand, his eyes blown wide in utter terror.

"Mike!" Josh yelled before he could stop himself.

The monster shrieked again, its head snapping towards him. In an instant, the monster raked its claws across Mike's chest and threw him aside, clear across the cave and into the wall on the other side of the lake. He hit the wall with a sickening _thud_ and crumpled to the ground, motionless.

Josh's entire body felt like immovable stone. Drops of warmth dribbled down his face.

Mike's blood. Mike's _blood_ _was all over his face._

No, no, no, no, no, this couldn't be real! This was just his mind. It had to be! Any second now, Mike would punch him in the face again and bring him back to reality.

But the monster did seem real. So, _so real_. But so did his hallucinations.

Another gut-turning screech. Blank, milky-white eyes swept past him and then back the other way.

" _Don't move,"_ Mike had said.

Move? He couldn't even _blink_ he was so petrified. The monster stalked around, looking for any sign of its prey.

Josh stared straight ahead, terrified even the slightest eye twitch might alert the thing to his location.

 _Don't move, don't move, don't move, don't move, don't move, don'tmovedon'tmovedon'tmove._

It was _so close_.

His lungs burned – when had he started holding his breath, anyway? – and he knew he couldn't stay the way he was much longer.

 _Crack, clatter, clatter…_

The thing shrieked one last time and tore off in the direction of the sound. Josh released his breath in a long whoosh, sucking in two more as he trembled and searched for Mike's form in the darkness of the cave.

The green of Mike's jacket stood out against the rock, and Josh's heart skipped one of its hammering beats as he saw Mike's arm flop back to the ground.

 _Oh._ He'd thrown something to lure the monster off.

Wait, Mike was still alive! _Barely._

Josh charged through the water with a newfound vigor, hosting himself onto the shore with a strength that had to be fueled by the adrenaline now coursing through his system. "Mike!"

Mike was on his side, breathing shallowly with his gaze unfocused.

"Mike!" Josh rolled him onto his back, clamping his hands over the long gash that had split the cloth of his shirt and the skin of his chest. Mike's chest heaved and he bit his lip, a muffled cry trying to fight its way out.

Oh, hell. The blood. _The blood._ This wasn't the movies. This wasn't pig blood. This was the actual, human blood of his friend literally _on his hands_.

"Hannah," Mike choked out.

Josh bit the inside of his cheek in surprise. What about Hannah? No, never mind. Mike was out of it. It didn't mean anything.

Josh racked his brain, trying to remember all the details he'd learned about blood loss over the years. The cut was long, but it wasn't deep. That was good, right? Mike still had a good chance of making it, but they needed to get out of here. "Mike. Mike, Mike! Look at me, Mike!"

Mike's eyes focused a bit.

"Hey, man, we gotta get out of here, okay? I'm gonna help you up."

Mike's nod was so weak it might have been his imagination. That didn't matter either. Wether or not Mike was up for it, they had to move, or they'd both be dead.

Fortunately, that… _thing_ had thrown Mike up on the far side of lake, so he didn't need to drag Mike through the water.

Josh grabbed Mike's arm, throwing it over his shoulders before he lifted. Josh grunted, struggling under the weight of the taller man. Damn, he was _heavy_.

"Mike. _Mike_ , which way?"

Mike's answer was so soft, Josh couldn't make out what he said, but he followed his line of sight in the direction he was supposed to take.

"Okay, okay, good. We're going, we're going."

Mike grunted softly, his head falling off to one side.

 _Are you leaving us so soon?_

Josh shook his head, trying to ignore Beth's taunting voice.

Their progress was slow but constant as Josh staggered on under Mike's deadweight–

No. Not going there. Not using that word. Mike was not dead. Mike wasn't going to _be_ dead.

Josh almost let out a cry of joy as the cold mountain air hit his face, but his fear of the _thing_ kept him quiet. They were outside. Outside was good. It may have been cold and unwelcoming, but it was progress. It wouldn't be long until he found a landmark he recognized. He may not have had any sense of direction in the mines, but nobody knew the surface of this mountain like he did. He'd be able to find his way back to the lodge. He had to.

 _Are you sure you want to go? It's much warmer in here._

 _You're not real, Hannah,_ Josh thought. No matter how genuine she sounded, there was no way his sweet baby sister would tell him to go _back_ into some creepy-ass mine with a monster running around in it.

After his third time tripping on some unseen twig or rock in the snow, Josh was almost ready to take back his earlier thoughts. Almost. His breath fogged in front of his face, clouding his already hazy vision, his shoulders and calves ached with the effort of lugging Mike's ridiculously heavy ass around, and the lower, uncovered parts of his arms were shaking with cold. Hell, Mike's body heat was probably the only thing keeping him from hypothermia or frostbite right now.

Josh made a face at the thought. Sharing body heat with _Michael Munroe_ was not something he cared to think about ever again.

He tripped over another snow-covered rock, stubbing his freezing toe. The string of swearwords that left his mouth was rendered unintelligible by him biting his lip. Mike's weight was thrown forward again, nearly tipping them both over.

 _Should've paid more attention in weight-lifting class._

"Shut up, Chris," Josh muttered.

Where the hell were they? He couldn't see a damn thing with the trees blocking the moonlight, and Mike had dropped his flashlight back when that… _thing_ grabbed him.

 _Snap._

Josh froze – haha, pun not intended, but that too. He hadn't stepped on any twigs or branches.

"Come on, Jess! We gotta keep moving!" a voice from behind him encouraged.

No way…

" _Matt?_ " Josh shuffled around, turning the two of them before mentally berating himself for being so loud.

There were two startled gasps and then several more snapped twigs before Matt shoved his way out from behind a dense collection of branches… with Jessica staggering behind him.

 _Jess?_ She wasn't dead? Mike had said she was dead. The blood on his shirt had been hers – well… the blood that was there before his chest got sliced open. Was this Jess real? Or something else his mind had conjured up to torture him with?

" _Josh?"_ Matt's eyes looked like they might pop out of his skull.

" _Michael!_ "

Josh flinched at the volume of Jessica's voice, about to warn her to keep it down when she limped close enough for him to really take in her appearance.

She looked _terrible –_ bruises and cuts littered her pale skin, all over her face and neck especially. Somehow, she seemed to have gotten her hands on a coat like the green one Mike had, but it was pretty easy to see that the only other thing she had on was her underwear and a pair of too-big boots. _Damn,_ and he thought _he_ was cold! What the hell had happened to her tonight? And was he sure he was ready to accept her presence as real?

Jessica was weeping something too distorted for him to understand as she reached out and cupped Mike's face with both of her hands. The only thing he really got out of it was: "Mike? Michael!"

"Jess…" Josh gave the trees around them a nervous glance. "You need to keep your voice down. There's… something out there…" Great. Now he did sound crazy. Like they were going to believe that–

"Yeah." Matt let out a humorless laugh. "We know, believe me!" His brow was still pulled tight in confusion, though. "What I don't know is how the hell you're alive."

"What?" Josh asked blankly.

"Dude. Chris and Ash said you got ripped apart in front of them by a–"

Oooh, right. Oh, damn. Matt was behind the times. Out of the loop. So far out of the loop, he wasn't even in the circus. Circus? Where had _that_ come from?

Matt was still talking. Oops. He'd tuned someone out again. Whatever. "Look, it's… _complicated."_ There was no way in hell he was taking the time to explain that _now_. _"_ I'll fill you in later, but right now, we gotta get to the lodge."

Matt snapped his mouth shut. "Right. Fine." He looked Josh over once more. "You don't look so good, though, man. Why don't you let me take Mike?"

Officially the best news all night. All year, maybe. Especially since Matt – Josh was just noticing now – barely had a scratch on him and he _was_ the tallest and most athletic of the guys in their group. He easily supported Mike's weight.

"Try not to move him too much – he's bleeding pretty badly." At least the cold had slowed the blood loss a bit. That was one silver lining.

"What _happened_ to him?" Jessica sobbed out. "That… creature?"

Josh gave a weak nod, the chill of the air biting his skin even more now that Matt had Mike and the adrenaline was dying down. He needed to say something. What was it? Something about that monster… _Right._ "Hey, um, that thing… It, uh… If you see it, don't move. It can only see you if you're moving."

"Yeah, it also doesn't like flare guns," Matt muttered.

…Okay, there was obviously a story there, but they didn't really have time to talk about it at the moment. "You wouldn't happen to have a spare one of those on you, would you?"

"Not anymore."

Josh's gaze flickered down to the glinting metal that was hanging from Mike's side. "Well, machete it is then." Not that he'd feel good about going up against that thing with a machete, but it was better than nothing.

Josh pulled the weapon from Mike's belt loop and pointed with it. "Lodge is that way. We were supposed to meet Sam and whoever's left there." _Whoever_ being the 'everybody' she and Mike had referred to.

Matt's eyes lit up. "Em? Is she–"

Josh shook his head. "Dunno, man. Haven't seen her." Not since he'd locked the gate behind the two of them when they'd been heading for the cable car station.

Matt's shoulders visibly sagged. "Okay… let's just get moving."

Josh hesitated, turning to Jessica again. Geez, she looked ready to keel over. "Jess, come here."

She looked confused, but too tired to ask, so she limped over to him. He looped his left arm around her shoulders and gently pulled her to his chest. "We'll walk slow, don't worry."

She gave a whimper in response, leaning into him as she shivered. She was weak, but at least she was lighter than Mike and still mostly standing on her own. He held her tightly as they started walking – if she caught her foot on something right now, she _would_ fall on her face. They settled into a rhythm as they went along, and she let her head fall to rest between his shoulder and neck.

Josh let his shoulders relax a bit. She was real. Had to be.

Josh suppressed a cackle at the irony of the situation. Here he was, the original villain of this story, and now he was the one with the girl on one side and a machete on the other, leading their small group of battered survivors to safety. What the actual hell? This was supposed to be Mike's thing, wasn't it? He was the Action Hero, and Sam was the Final Girl.

And on that thought, a movie poster popped into Josh's head. He bit his lip to keep quiet as he pictured Mike slightly to the right of the center, brandishing his machete while Jessica had her hands on his chest and looked up at him with doe eyes. Haha. That seemed about right. Yeah, and Sam would be a little to the left, standing alone and confident, her headband-flashlight thing illuminating the three of them in an otherwise dark setting – probably the mines. Oh, and Chris and Ashley would probably be in the background somewhere, gazing longingly at each other, but not touching. Totally like them.

Yep. He was so pitching this idea to his dad. Sounded just like one of his movies.

Jessica shivered again, pressing as close to him as she could. Well, at least now he was sharing body heat with someone other than Mike. Granted, he'd still prefer it to be a different blonde from their group–

 _Oh, shut up brain._ Not the time. Sam probably hated him now, anyway. They'd all hate him when they found out the truth.

* * *

" _ **If you have not been a villain at a certain point in time, you will never be a hero.**_ **" – Unknown.**

 **Also, Vegan Psycho.  
**


	2. Sacrificial Lamb With a Shotgun

" ** _I think that we all do heroic things, but hero is not a noun, it's a verb._ " – RDJ**

* * *

"Hey, is that what I think it is?" Matt called.

"Shh!" Josh hissed. What about 'keep your voice down' did Matt not understand? "And yeah, it is."

The shed where Mike and Chris had tied him up before. _Good, good, good._ Great, actually. Better than the lodge for one reason in particular.

He nudged Jess into walking a bit faster as his adrenaline kicked back up. Even though the shed was technically safer than being out in the open, he'd been literally dragged kicking and screaming from it before – not fond memories. "Matt, stay here, man. I'll be right back." He did not need Matt seeing the headless, sawed-in-half dummy wearing his clothes. That would definitely raise some questions.

Jess gasped and grabbed a fist full of Josh's shirt as they entered through broken doors. "W-who's blood is that?"

Josh didn't even glance at the smear he knew was on the ground by the broken stool. "Mine." He moved over to the nearest wall. "Jess, just stay here for a second, okay?" He really didn't need her seeing the dummy either.

"Okay…"

He broke into a light jog, rounding the wooden board with the half-dummy still tied to it. _Please still be there._

"Oh, hell yes!" He sheathed the machete between his shirt and the back of his overalls and dropped to his knees beside the crate he'd been looking for, snatching up the first gun he could reach. His dad _loved_ his guns, that was for sure. It'd taken Josh several hours to collect all the ones around the house and get them out when he'd been setting his prank up – something he'd made sure to be very thorough about. If one of the gang had found a gun while they thought he was a murdering psycho, things could have ended _very_ badly for him.

Right. Because they'd gone _so well_ anyway…

Whatever. He was now _really_ glad he'd stored them all here together.

He set the first gun down, digging through the crate to see what his options were. Could Jess handle a gun? He had no idea. Better safe than sorry, though. He grabbed one of the rifles with a strap and swung it over his shoulder. Matt was apparently good with a flare gun, but he was too busy hauling Mike around for one of the bigger weapons. Josh snatched a handgun for him. At least it was something.

Now, what did _he_ want? Rifle, handgun… might as well have diversity. Josh grabbed a shotgun and headed back out to where Jessica was waiting. "Jess, can you handle one of these?"

She stared blankly at him for a few seconds and then swallowed. "If I have to…"

Well, at least that wasn't a flat out 'no,' even he'd prefer not to have to rely on her to watch his back. "Okay. Here." He pulled the rifle strap over his shoulder and helped put it on hers instead. "Come on." He led her gently back outside and wordlessly gave the handgun to Matt before he pulled Jess close again, being mindful of the machete sticking out from his back.

Matt accepted the weapon instantly, stuffing it in his jeans' pocket. "I'm feeling better already."

"This way." Josh urged them on. "We're not far."

It was getting slightly easier to see now. Almost dawn, by the look of things. Almost light. That would be nice.

A terrifying, inhuman shriek ripped through the air around them. Jessica whimpered, clinging to Josh's overalls like a lifeline.

A plethora of swearwords wanted to escape his mouth, but saying them was likely to get all four of them killed, so instead he hissed, "Stay still!" Probably unnecessary, but reminding them couldn't be a bad thing.

The monster burst from the trees, landing a short distance from them. Josh held his breath on purpose this time, his eyes already watering from the cold air as he tried not to blink.

Wait just a damn minute… was the thing wearing _clothes_ this time? It hadn't before, and it had been taller then, too.

Oh, _hell._ There were more than one of them.

The thing sniffed the air, skittering around but not looking at any of them. It shrieked again. Okay. _Okay, okay, okay…_ If they just kept this up, it would go away–

A low moan broke the air, and Josh's insides twisted in panic as he snapped his gaze over to Matt and Mike. _Mike._ The monster's loud screaming must have been enough to rouse him from his injury-induced, ill-timed nap.

Matt hadn't so much as twitched, but it didn't matter. Mike's head rolled to one side, and the monster snapped its head around with an even louder scream. Mike's eyes popped open, his head jerking upright.

Josh didn't have time to think. Right now, all he knew was that if he didn't do something, Mike and Matt were dead.

…And that the monster had its back to him and Jess.

"Stay down," he whispered to Jess, and shoved her to the ground. Probably a bit rough, but it was that or someone dying.

Quickly, he stepped away from her, cocking his shotgun and waving his arm. " _Hey, asshole!_ Come and get me!"

The thing's response was so fast, he almost fumbled his gun. It lunged at him, claws outstretched and ready to dig into him. Josh swung his gun up and fired, blowing the creature back. It shrieked, but was back on its feet in seconds.

 _What. The. Hell._ It wasn't dead?

Okay. _Okay, okay._ New plan.

He pumped the gun, fired again, and ran. So what if he couldn't kill it? He could still get the bastard away from his friends. It was the least he could do after everything he'd put them through tonight.

The monster was catching up to him – he could hear it. He swung around, planting his feet firmly in the snow as he took aim. The shot blasted the monster back again, and then he was back to running.

 _Thank you, Dad._ Today was a really, really good day to have a gun freak as a parent.

Wait, crap, he was still heading towards the lodge. He needed to lead this thing _away_ from the lodge. He altered his course abruptly, weaving through the trees. If he put enough obstacles between the two of them, maybe he could hide and wait for it to pass.

A squealing bark blared in his ears, but before he could place the sound, a blur of brown slammed into him, knocking him off his feet with what felt like the force of a train. His head struck the ground with sickening _smack_.

The ground swallowed his groan.

 _Elk,_ his frazzled mind supplied. Or deer. Whatever. He was going to die because he'd startled an _elk_.

Was that the role he was meant to play: the one who died close to the end to save the others? Maybe… maybe it was for the best. The others wouldn't know about these last details. Jessica, Matt, Mike… they'd tell the others he went out in blaze of glory, valiantly leading the threat away from the rest of them. That wasn't so bad.

 _It's okay, Josh. We're here._

Hannah and Beth. He could join them now. _And_ be proud of how he got there.

He relaxed, taking deep breaths as he let his eyelids fall shut.

He waited.

And waited.

When he'd managed to count to ten and still wasn't dead, Josh pried his eyes open. Was it toying with him? Playing with its food like a cat?

He rolled onto his back, his arm brushing his dropped shotgun. He was alive, and it was gone. But where? And why?

Josh swore, scrambling to his feet as fast as his pounding head would allow. If it had headed towards the lodge, then _everyone_ was in danger.

He took a shortcut through the trees, not bothering to go back the way he came. If the others had any sense at all, they wouldn't still be there.

He was more careful this time, keeping a close eye out for deer – or elk, or whatever the hell they were – and anything else that wasn't a tree or a rock.

His throat burned and ached as the icy air tore at him with each of his panting breaths. His body begged for more air, but rejected what he gave it. The cycle was excruciating.

The lodge. It was so close now.

He actually had to thank the deer-elk. Aside from probably saving his life earlier, it also made him alert enough to avoid plowing straight into Emily. Instead, he stopped just short of bumping into her.

" _Josh?_ "

"Josh!" Ashley. She'd just run out of the lodge's open door.

"Ash… Emily…" Josh quickly glanced around. Just the three of them. That was everyone accounted for except… "Where are Sam and Chris?"

"They…" Ashley's lips quivered.

The characteristic shriek of one of the monsters blasted from inside.

"They're still in the lodge with the Wendigos," Emily's tone was grim, but composed. "They distracted them long enough for us to get out. I think Sam had a plan."

 _Wendigos? Right, sure. Whatever works._

 _Sam. Chris._ That was all he needed to hear. Whatever Sam's plan was, it would probably work better with the addition of a shotgun. He headed for the door.

"Wait, wait, wait, Josh, you can't!" Ashlely latched onto his arm, holding him back. "The Wendigos broke the fireplace, if you shoot that in there, it'll kill all of you!"

Josh swore under his breath again. Blowing everyone sky high wouldn't help anything. "Okay, fine." He turned and shoved the gun into Emily's hands – no way in hell he was giving Ashley a shotgun after feeling what she could do with just a pair of scissors when she was panicked. "Be ready with this."

He bolted for the door without another word. Nothing was stopping him. Not now. Chris and Sam were making it out of this even if it killed him.

He halted in the doorway, motionless as he took in the scene before him.

One of the monsters – the Wendigos – lay dead on the floor, its head a few feet away, but there were still two more in the room. Josh's breathing hitched.

The Wendigo from the mines – the tall spindly one that had hurt Mike – was stalking towards Sam, so close its shadow had fallen over her.

 _Pop._

The Wendigo swiveled around, twisting in a way that should have been impossible for anything with a spine, its blank eyes landing on–

No. _No._

Chris stood on the far side of the room, his arm frozen in mid-air near a broken lightbulb. A lightbulb he'd broken on purpose, judging by Chris' now-bloodied hand. What was he doing? Emily had said Sam had a plan, but what was it?

Not that it mattered what the plan was if Chris got butchered. The Wendigo was closing in on him, sniffing the air with vigor.

Josh reached to his right cautiously, wrapping his hand around the candlestick that was on the table by the door. He couldn't distract the beast from where he was without leading it outside to Emily and Ashley, but if he threw something, maybe–

" _Hey!_ " Sam barked, drawing the Wendigo's attention back to her. Chris lowered his arm slowly, taking small, careful steps in direction of the door. He was favoring one foot, though. Limping. Bad. Very, _very_ bad. If he had to run, he'd be dead. But Chris wasn't the one in the most danger right now.

The Wendigo stalked closer to Sam, roaring directly into her face.

Josh lobbed the candlestick over Sam and the Wendigo's heads, and it clattered to the floor. The Wendigo pounced after it like a cat. Sam – sweet, clever, _clever_ Sam – used the distraction as soon as it was available, darting over to one of the many wooden pillars in the lodge and pressing her back to it.

The sudden movement put the Wendigo back on her trail, but now she was closer to the door.

And so was Chris, who was just standing there now – staring at him. Finally, he'd noticed he was here.

Josh almost felt like crying as he saw the relief on his best friend's face. He still cared – after all the hell Josh had put him through, Chris had still been worried about him.

They didn't have time for that, though. Josh tilted his head towards the door.

Chris' brow furrowed behind the frames of his glasses, and Josh had known him long enough to pick up the meaning right off the bat.

 _Go,_ Josh mouthed, his gaze flickering to Chris' injured leg for a moment.

 _Come on, Cochise. I've got a better chance than you right now._

Chris gave the faintest of nods, his eyes darting over to the fireplace, then to the lightbulb he'd broken, and at last to the light switch that was within Josh's reach.

 _Oh._ So that had been Sam's plan. His nose was so cold, he could barely even smell the gas, but now that he was listening, he could hear it still escaping the broken pipes. He gave Chris another nod and gently stepped to the side of the door, getting out of the way so he could leave.

The rhythmic scampering of more Wendigo feet drew Josh's attention to the second level. Right. There were still two of them in here.

The taller Wendigo that was still hunting for Sam turned away from its search in favor of growl-hissing at the other.

Sam darted from her hiding place behind the pillar over to one of the stone corners that framed several of the doorways in the house. She was out of Josh's sight now, but even closer to the door. Closer, but still way too far. She could be torn to shreds a thousand times over in that gap.

Josh shooed Chris again with a jerk of his head, and Chris finally passed through the exit, out to safety. Everyone was safe now – everyone but him and Sam. Once again, her movement had grabbed the Wendigo's attention, but this time the other one wasn't drawing it away. No, the other one was too busy sniffing the damn air.

The taller Wendigo's head disappeared behind the stone – right where Josh knew Sam was. It shrieked again, louder than before.

 _Sam. Sammy. No. Not her._ Out of all of them, not her. She didn't deserve this. Any of this. Not one bit.

He had to do something. Something that wouldn't put those outside in danger. Something that would get both Wendigos more than a little distracted. Something bigger than throwing an object.

So he ran. Into the lodge. Into the lions' den – _ha_ , he _wished_ these were lions.

Why did his brain think these life and death situations were the best time for pulling out the wisecracks?

His footsteps thumped against the floor – atrociously loud, even to his own ears. He had seconds. These things were too fast to grant him more than that–

Claws raked through his left shoulder, sending him to the ground with no chance to smother his cry of pain. He gritted his teeth, rolling onto his back as he gripped the hilt of the machete that he had – surprisingly – not dropped through everything.

So what if his chances were nil? He could at least _try_ to shove the machete into the bastard's ugly mouth.

But the Wendigo was already on him by the time he got his bearings, pressing him into the floor so harshly the machete wouldn't come free. The Wedingo's hot, rancid breath filled his lungs – its sharp, rotting teeth mere inches from his throat.

 _Join us, Josh._

Josh didn't even try to stop the whimper that left his mouth, scrunching his eyes shut. He didn't want to die. _He didn't want to die. Not like this._

"Josh!"

 _Sam._ That's why he was dying. For her. For Chris. He snapped his eyes open in a vain attempt to see her one last time. "Just go, Sammy! Hit the switch!" The Wendigo wouldn't bother her now. Not when it already had him in its grasp.

He was yanked into the air by his throat, a screech from the Wendigo reverberating down the corridors of his ears. The Wendigo drew one bony arm back for the final strike. Josh looked again for some sign of Sam as black flecks collected at the edge of his vision, hoping he would be granted the last request of seeing something a little more pleasant than his killer's ugly face.

Instead, his gaze landed on a simple black design inked into the Wendigo's right shoulder.

 _No. No, no, no, no, no, please no!_ This was _so_ much worse than anything his hallucinations had thrown at him. Or was it? This couldn't be real. But this monster couldn't be fake. His mind was just playing last minute tricks on him – tormenting him a little more by projecting his sister's tattoo onto the monster's skin.

"Hannah!" he choked out.

The Wendigo hesitated, its hand still poised for the strike, but just… held there.

 _Oh, hell. Oh, hell. Oh, hell._ It _was_ her. He didn't know how, but it was her.

"Hannah…" he rasped. The long, bony fingers around his neck made speech nearly impossible. "I'm… sorry…" His whole body was numb – everything but the pain of the nails digging into his throat.

The Wendigo's – he refused to think of that thing's face as his sister's – terrifying head seemed to float out of his remaining sight.

The hard _thud_ reached his ears a moment before pain shot through the arm Ashley had stabbed earlier. His chest heaved, instinctively pulling in the oxygen he so desperately needed.

… _What?_

"Josh!"

 _Sam._ He followed her voice, using it as a tether to draw him back to lucid thought.

There was an awful lot of screaming somewhere. Somewhere really close. Not human screaming, though.

Josh lifted his head, sucking in more air. His vision sharpened with each breath, and the flailing shapes in front of him cleared, revealing _two_ Wendigos. _Fighting._

He scrambled back, the damaged, splintered wood of the floor scraping against his palms.

"Josh, come on!"

Josh finally zeroed in on Sam's location – at the door. By the switch. She was waiting for him. Waiting for him to make the decision to _live_.

He would make it. For her. For Chris. For Mike and Jess and Ashley and Matt and Emily. So they would never have to live through what he had.

 _They don't care about you, Josh. Not like we do._

So what? Didn't mean they wanted him to die. At least, not all of them. He honestly wouldn't blame Ashley if she did.

Josh shoved himself to his feet, lumbering around the fighting Wendigos on shaky legs.

" _You can do it, man. We believe in you._ "

" _Yeah! Totally! Woohoo!_ "

Both of the Wendigos were screeching now, apparently noticing that the food they were fighting over was getting away.

Josh resisted the urge to look over his shoulder – that would only slow him down.

" _Let's go Jo-osh, let's go!_ "

Sam stood her ground, hand poised right above the switch as her unwavering gaze spurred him on.

So close now. But not as close as the Wendigos were to _him_.

Just a little more… He could make it. "Go, go, go! I got the switch!"

Sam waited a split second, letting him a get a little closer and then tore out the door.

Right on her heels, he stretched out a hand, flicking the switch downward in a movement he'd perfected from the thousands of times he'd done it during his childhood.

For the first time in several long hours, Josh felt real heat. The burning of his family's second home – it lighting up, consumed by flames in less than a few seconds.

He was thrown forward and sent crashing into the snow where his front ached from the cold and his back twinged painfully from the heat. There were muffled voices all around him, and he groaned. His _head_.

"Josh?" A hand was gently laid on his shoulder.

Josh blinked into the snow sluggishly, his arms slowly pulling in to where he could use them to push himself up. His right arm seemed to be responding better than his left – no surprise since that one had been stabbed with scissors and taken the impact of his fall – so he used his right arm to roll himself onto his side, perching there awkwardly as the machete tried to dig its way into his back.

"M'fine, Cochise." Josh grappled with the machete, pulling it out and dropping it at his side.

Chris barked out a laugh. "Yeah, sure you are, bro. Come on, let's get you up."

Josh was just starting to wonder how Chris intended to do that with his hurt leg when Sam appeared at his side too. She gave him a reassuring smile as they helped him to his feet before stepping back to give him space.

The horror of hearing another Wednigo screech didn't even have to time to settle into his stomach before the monster leaped from the flames of the house, its skin blackened and tearing apart in places. Its claws stretched out, reaching right for him… but he couldn't find the energy to move.

The wind was knocked clear out of him as his back hit the ground. No hesitation this time – the Wendigo's claws went directly for his throat.

The glint of metal… a feminine yell…

The monster shrieked in pain as Sam chopped at it repeatedly with the machete, scurrying back on its injured limbs.

"Sam, move your ass!" Emily yelled from somewhere.

Sam dived out of the way just in time for a shotgun blast to hit the Wendigo in the face. And another. And another. And another.

Even after the thing had stopped screaming, Emily kept shooting. Josh couldn't say he blamed her for wasting ammo – not with how much it took to kill one of those things.

Finally, all the screeching, all the shooting, all his friends' yells… they'd all died down.

Josh didn't move. He lay there, paralyzed as he watched the splits in the Wendigo's skin tear across the tattoo on it shoulder. Suddenly, his inability to breathe had nothing to do with having had the wind knocked out of him.

" _Hannah_." He stretched a hand out to her, tears pouring out his eyes. Sobs racked his whole form, his arm trembling as its stretched out towards her. Out of his reach. She'd been out of his reach of a year. Gone for a year. So why did this hurt even _more?_

His sobbing grew even worse, making it impossible to keep _any_ air in his lungs. Every breath he tried to draw escaped the instant he pulled it. "Hannah, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I'm so, so sorry! I didn't want you to die. I didn't want to you die, I didn't!"

"Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, what do we do?"

"We need to calm him down!"

" _How?_ "

"I don't know!"

There were hands on him now, holding him down. He didn't know whose they were, and he didn't care. He squirmed beneath them, trying to get to his sister's side. "Hannah! Hannah! _Hannah!_ "

The last thing he remembered was more pain.

* * *

 **Poor Josh. :( Two down, one to go! And if you guys want see more after the last chapter, do let me know! Throw some ideas at me if you want!**

 **Also, I just finished making a Josh video and should have it uploaded by next update. I'll be sure to drop a link for those interested. :)**

" ** _A hero is someone who, in spite of weakness, doubt, or not always knowing the answers, goes ahead and overcomes anyway._ " – Christopher Reeve. **


	3. Safe – Not Okay

**Please read the note at the end when you're done. :)**

" _ **You have value and you deserve better.**_ **" – Unknown.**

* * *

" _Please, he needs help!"_

" _You're safe now."_

"… _anyway, they want to interview us. I'll be back soon. I promise."_

" _Yeah, bro, Mike is out of surgery now. He's gonna be all right. We all are. At least… I really hope you are…"_

" _Hey, so, the others say you went loony up there or something, and you may have, but you still saved my life, so thanks for that…"_

" _I really am sorry about stabbing you… Please get well?"_

" _I'm still here for you, you know? Even after everything… I still think we have a connection."_

 _Beep._

 _Beep._

 _Beep._

The first thing Josh realized was that his eyelids felt crusted shut, like he hadn't opened them in a thousand years and dust had settled all around them, gluing them shut. His lips parted as he tried to draw a deeper breath, but his lips felt even worse than his eyes – chapped and bloodied.

He cracked his eyes just a little and then blinked several times, opening them a bit more each time. Bright. Very bright.

He used his dry tongue to pry his lips apart and took as deep of a breath as he could. The simple movement of his chest set off a chain reaction to the rest of his body.

 _Everything. Hurt._

His calves were sore, his arm was burning, his back was aching, his cheek was throbbing, and he didn't even know where to start when it came to counting the smaller wounds littering his entire body. A groan found its way out of his shredded lips.

A chair creaked to his right. "Josh?"

He'd know that voice anywhere. "Chris?" His voice came out horse and raspy.

"Umm, oh! Do you want some water?"

Josh gave a single, faint nod. He still couldn't see very well, but his pupils were slowly adjusting to the hospital lighting.

There were a few seconds of shuffling around and some clicking, and then Chris' face appeared in front of him. "Here you are, bro."

He lifted his head as a straw was pushed into his mouth. It took a couple of seconds, but Josh managed to shape his mouth in the right way to use it. Even if it hurt his swollen cheek like hell, it was worth it when the refreshing, tasteless liquid soothed his throat. He reached up with his uninjured – well, _less_ injured – arm and grabbed the cup, balancing it on his chest. "Thanks," he murmured, clearing his throat a few times.

He finally identified the source of the clacking noise as a crutch Chris was using, and that led him to spot the brace around Chris' ankle. "You okay, man?"

Chris' eyebrows shot up. "Me? Are you kidding? Bro, I'm lucky. I mean, compared to you and Jess and Mike?"

Josh sighed. "Jess and Mike and Matt made it out okay, then?"

"Yeah." Chris nodded eagerly. "Mike had to have some minor surgery, but he came out okay. Jess was a little bashed up, but she's looking better now. Emily just needed a bandage for her shoulder, even if she's still pissed as hell at Mike – long story there. Ash is doing great. I mean, her only real injury was her…" Chris cleared his throat awkwardly. "Well, her eye…"

Josh winced. He hadn't meant to punch her. He really hadn't. Punching just… apparently, it was a reflex when someone stabbed him with scissors.

"Anyway, she's fine," Chris plowed on. "And obviously, I'm good. Just my ankle. It's not even broken. Matt's super fine– okay _that_ came out wrong…"

Josh chuckled slightly, rolling his eyes.

"I mean… he really wasn't even hurt. Like, at all. And Sam–"

"Mmm, now she _is_ super fine." Too perfect of an opening there. He couldn't ignore it.

Chris spluttered. "Yeah, okay, nice one. Sam's fi– _good_. Just a couple of scratches, even after all the running and climbing and crap she had to do. No clue how she pulled that off."

Josh snorted. "She's resourceful." Something he'd definitely learned the hard way. When he'd been planning his prank, he'd expected a certain amount of trouble – maybe from Mike or Matt when he got around to them since they were the 'macho men' of the group. What he hadn't counted on was Sam lobbing a vase at him and smacking him in the head with his old baseball bat. Maybe it wasn't as painful as Ashley and her scissors, but it had sure been effective. "Pacifist my ass…"

Chris shook his head. "I don't even want to know, man."

"Hm," he grunted. "Where is she?"

"Oh, she's been running from room to room to check on everyone ever since we got here. Should be back around here pretty soon."

Of course she was. That was so Sam. But that brought up another question. "How long was I...?"

Chris glanced at the clock on the wall. "Little over a day?"

An entire day? Damn. He must have been pretty out of it after–

"Who knocked me out?"

Chris froze.

What? "You're kidding…"

Chris scratched the back of his neck. "You were freaking out… I didn't know what else to do."

Well, he'd only been freaking out because–

His breath hitched, memories flooding back. "Hannah…"

Chris tensed instantly, giving the heart monitor a nervous glance as it picked up speed. He looked like he was about call for a nurse or a doctor or something.

Josh grabbed his arm. "That _thing_ , Chris. The-the Wendigo. It was _Hannah_."

Chris shook is head vigorously. "No, n-n-no, man. That thing… no way. It was just your head playing tricks on you–"

Josh gripped his arm tighter. "I saw her tattoo on its arm! Don't you dare tell me that wasn't real!" Tears were clouding his vision again. "A-and Mike saw it too! Ask him if you don't believe me!" _That_ was why Mike had spoken her name in the mines, wasn't it? He'd seen it before she'd thrown him aside.

Chris just stared at him, his mouth hanging partially open.

Friends since Third Grade? Yeah, Josh knew how to read Chris' face by now. " _What?_ What aren't you telling me?"

"I… um…"

"You know something, don't you? _Tell. Me._ "

Chris expression cracked. "I… I really don't think that's such a good idea, man."

"Chris…" Josh's grip gave a bit. He was too exhausted to keep this up. It was all he could do to keep blinking back his tears. "I need to know. _Please…_ "

After what had happened on the mountain, after a whole year of his mind concocting one dark scenario after another… Josh thought he'd be prepared for anything.

He was wrong.

He couldn't bring himself to speak a single word while Chris laid out the nightmare in full, stuttering detail. And now that it was over, the only word he was able to utter was a garbled, barely intelligible, " _Trashcan_."

The moment it clicked in Chris' head, he moved faster than any limping man should have been able to.

The trashcan had barely hit his hands when Josh started retching into it, knocking his hospital water mug onto the floor in the process. There wasn't really much in his system to throw up, but what little there had been was gone after a few heaves.

Chris stood by, awkwardly setting a hand on his shoulder until Josh was done and collapsed back against the firm pillow behind him. Chris quickly moved the trashcan back to the floor. The silence between them was thick for a few moments.

"Are you okay?" Chris asked quietly, pulling a chair over to the edge of the bed and sitting in it.

Josh closed his eyes, the moisture in them finally leaking out. "No. And I haven't been for a long time." His eyes opened again, staring at the ceiling – anywhere but at his friend. "I-I need help, Cochise…"

"Yeah… I kinda figured that one out…"

Josh choke-laughed, blindly thwacking him. "Asshat." From anyone else, that would have been hurtful, but from Chris… Somehow, he always knew how his jokes would come across to Josh.

The beeping of the heart monitor had returned to normal now, somehow making the silence between them even more uncomfortable.

"Wellll, you can always look at things this way: Mike will do whatever you tell him for the rest of his life."

Josh scowled. "Huh?"

"Bro, you saved his life _and_ Jessica's. He's practically worshiping the ground you walk on right now."

He had wha– Oh, he _had_ saved their lives. He hadn't even thought about that until now. Damn. "Think I could get him to get me a burger?"

Chris snickered. "Hmm, maybe later. Doctors here would have a fit if he even tried to stand up, no matter how much he's been whining at them."

Now _there_ was an amusing mental image. Josh let a faint smile slip over his face, his gaze trailing down from the ceiling, past the open door–

 _Oh, hell._ Why couldn't he just be left alone?

Josh did nothing to suppress the very loud groan that came out of his mouth. He pressed his palms to his eyes. "I thought you'd left."

"Well, I can come back later if this is a bad time, Joshua."

"Yeah, how about never?"

He could hear Chris shuffling uncomfortably off to the side. "Umm, should I go and leave you two to talk–"

"Wait." _Two?_ Josh dropped his hands, looking between Chris and Dr. Hill several times. "You can see him?"

"Um, yeah?"

 _Oh. Oh, man…_ Josh gave his therapist an apologetic look. "Sorry… thought you were…" He gestured to his head.

Dr. Hill nodded understandingly. "It's quite all right, Josh."

He'd almost forgotten how remarkably less creepy his real therapist was compared to his mind's rendering. Dr. Hill greeted Chris with a smile. "You must be Christopher."

"Yessss, I am." Chris was regarding him warily. "And you are?"

Josh cleared his throat. "Chris, hey, um, can you give us a minute?"

Surprise flickered across Chris' face. "Um, suuuuuure. Okay. I'll go… check and see what Sam's up to."

"Thanks, bro."

Dr. Hill waited for Chris to hobble out of the room before taking his chair. "So… I take it your plan didn't play out the way you wanted?"

"Understatement of the decade," Josh mumbled. "You were right. As usual." How different would things be now if he had just _listened?_

"Hmm."

Josh supposed 'I told you so' was a little un-therapist like. He frowned as a thought crossed his mind. "How'd you get here? Aren't we still in Alberta?"

Dr. Hill leaned back in the chair, settling his elbows on the armrest and steepling his fingers. "Your parents had me booked for the first flight up after they heard the news. They're on their way themselves, but I'm afraid their flight was delayed."

His parents… were actually coming? Actually making an effort to see him? Well, that was a first in a year…

"Joshua… do you _want_ to talk?"

"Yeah… But I don't know what to say…" Look at him. Telling the truth. That was progress, right?

"Well, why don't you start from the beginning of the trip? Tell me what happened, perhaps?"

Tell him what happened. That sounded great. Get it all off his chest. Except he'd never believe him. Dr. Hill would think the Wendigos were just another case of him losing it… but there was someone he knew would believe him.

"I… I don't think it's… _you_ I need to talk to."

"Ah." Instead of sounding offended, Dr. Hill actually seemed to have a smile in his voice. He knew already. Probably had since he walked into the room. "Samantha?"

Josh nodded shakily.

"I'll see what I can do about that." Dr. Hill rose from his chair, heading for the door. "And I'll be here for a while, should you need my help."

Of course he would. His parents had probably paid him more than his annual salary to be here.

Despite the promise of seeing Sam again, his eyelids were just too heavy to keep open. He dozed off only a couple minutes after Dr. Hill left the room. It must have been some high-powered medication they had him on, because he hadn't been able to do that so easily in months.

It was peaceful, actually. Especially the calming sensation of fingers trailing through his hair.

 _Wait…_

He pulled open his eyes, blinking sleepily.

Gentle green irises stared back at him.

"Hey." Sam smiled warmly. "You wanted to talk?"

* * *

 **Thank you all for your support and kind words! But before you go…**

 **Okay, ladies and germs, I have three upcoming projects in the works that you might be interested in:**

 **1.** _ **Settlers of Dawn**_ **\- CONTINUATION OF PLAYING HERO! This story is a little more light-hearted, focusing on what shenanigans Josh and the others can get up to when they're stuck in a hospital. (But you really can't have Josh without some angst, so there's a bit of that too.) Will be posted in a few days.**

 **2.** _ **Monsters After Dusk**_ **– Sequel to** _ **Playing Hero**_ **and** _ **Settlers of Dawn**_ **. Less on the humor side than Settlers. More Vegan Psycho.**

 **3\. Separate universe (This one may take a while). You get one hint: JS-2187. Take what you will from that. ;) There will be further info at the end of** _ **Settlers of Dawn**_ **.**

 **ALSO, I HAVE ENTERED** _ **PLAYING HERO**_ **INTO A WRITING CONTEST. If you enjoyed it enough, please go vote for it! :)  
**

 ** **(in) (ki) (tt).c (o) m / stories / 54341 / chapters / 1** (Obviously, just take out the spaces and parenthesis)  
**

 **Btw, those interested in seeing the Josh tribute video I mentioned, just go to my profile and click the link to my Youtube account. (Since this site is AWFUL about links.)**


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